Janice Tedstone, Bill & Josie Moore

Project: Kamengo Medical Mission - March 2019Start Date: 07/03/2019

When I was 12 years old and my sister, Gail, was 24, she went off to Peru to work as a nurse for CUSO for two years. This was in the sixties, when it was unusual for people to go off and volunteer in far parts of the world. Many years later, in 2008, she told me that she was heading off to Africa to do a medical mission with CACHA. For years, I had admired her for having the type of profession that she could take to the third world and I told her so. That’s when she explained to me that medical missions needed non-medical staff to help with logistics. She told me that with my extensive experience in volunteering and my background in project planning, I’d be well-suited to assist. So I signed up to join her on my first mission to Benin in November 2010. It was a very challenging and emotional experience but I hoped that I would do something like that again. My husband, Bill, had always wanted to go to Africa but wanted to do something to contribute to the community while there visiting. So, together, we joined a CACHA mission to Uganda in the spring of 2012. It was very rewarding for both of us and, after our return, we continued to help by paying for the university education of a young man named Martin whom we had met on the mission. Today, Martin is a useful contributor to the Agnes Zabali Boys and Girls Club in Kamengo and has his own building supply business. So our relationship with the community continues today.

This year, we’ve decided to return to Kamengo on another mission, this time with Bill’s daughter, Josie. She’s a secondary school teacher in Squamish and is on a one-year leave of absence from teaching. She hopes to share some of her expertise in school curriculum development with some of the teachers there, all while participating in the medical mission. And it will allow Martin to meet his “sistah”.

Missions with CACHA are fully funded by the volunteers. This is not voluntourism. All contributions go to the costs of the mission: travel to and from the destination, accommodation and meals during the mission, all medical supplies, the hospital costs for patients cared for during the mission and the use of an operating theatre at a local hospital.

We are prepared to fully-fund our mission to Uganda but we would appreciate any monetary contributions from friends who want to do their part.

Weebale (Thank you in Luganda) from Janice Tedstone, Bill Moore and Josie Moore

The individuals on these pages are raising funds in support of CACHA’s mission. The funds are given to CACHA to defray the costs of participation in, and supplies for, the mission, and not for the personal benefit of any participant. CACHA retains control over the use of all donated funds. Once the needs for the program have been met, or cannot be completed for any reason, any remaining contributions will be used where needed most.

Background:

GGOLI HEALTH CENTRE The Ggoli Health Centre is a private, not for profit and a non-governmental unit. It was founded in 1985 by Reverand Fr. Joseph Lubega who was the then parish priest of Ggoli parish and the mandate of the centre was to offer medical care to the rural population. The health center is under the umbrella of the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau Director and is a referral clinic for many other local rural health dispensaries. The management is guided by the Spirit of stewardship, shared responsibility, transparency and accountability. The GHC has less than 20 beds with an occupancy rate of 60-80%. Out-patient, in-patient, ophthalmology, HIV care and treatment, dentistry, orthopedics, and maternity is provided at GHC. Typical cases include malaria, pneumonia, UTI, diarrhea, worms, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and baby delivery. Patients for which services cannot be provided are referred to the Nkozi Hospital.

NKOZI HOSPITAL: Nkozi is a private not for profit community hospital, located in rural Mpigi District in central Uganda approximately 15km from Kamengo along the Masaka highway. The Hospital has 100 beds, with a theatre that conducts both minor and major surgeries. The facility is owned by the trustees of Kampala archdiocese and operates 24 hours. The hospital offers preventative, curative and promotive health services both on site and in outreaches.

It is at this hospital where x-rays and ultrasounds are conducted and minor surgeries are performed. While efforts are made to keep health care costs to a minimum, the cost of receiving health care and medications remains a great obstacle for most people living in the catchment area. Costs are subsidized by the government however funding shortages for the daily operations of the health center are not uncommon. Please visit www.nkozihospital.org for more information about Nkozi Hospital.

Please consider joining this trip to Uganda with CACHA. No doubt this will be rewarding and an amazing two weeks in the community that we have been volunteering in for the last 10 years! In addition to making a difference, you will experience the unique culture of Uganda.

CACHA medical missions consist of international and local clinic officers, physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, midwives, pharmacists, dentists, ophthalmologists, physiotherapists, other health workers and coordinators, and logisticians (non-medical workers). The entire mission is in partnership with our local partners and it is this partnership that allows us to bring much needed medical care to those that need the care.

CACHA medical missions are non-profit and self-funded by volunteers and their donors. The mission cost is disbursed over a variety of mission-related expenses including; accommodation, food, in-country transportation, allowances for locally engaged partners, medical and logistics equipment and supplies, communications, customs, medical treatments and referrals for patients, as well as CACHA overhead and management, CACHA membership fee, and helps to support many of our CACHA projects.

All donations submitted to CACHA toward payment of mission costs and plane tickets are tax deductible.

The Canada Africa Community Health Alliance (CACHA) is a non-government organization that seeks to improve the health of rural communities through partnerships to the most vulnerable in Bénin, Tanzania and Uganda.CACHA is a registered Canadian charitable organization.CRA registration # 86288 9755 RR0001.